


The Change of a Lifetime

by Jay Starbeing (thetulpaspet)



Category: Left 4 Dead 2
Genre: Gen, Infected, Multi, turning
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-08-05
Updated: 2012-10-04
Packaged: 2017-11-11 12:37:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,435
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/478622
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thetulpaspet/pseuds/Jay%20Starbeing
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sorry for the bad summary. This is a self inflicted challenge to write all of the survivors changing into an infected of some sort, which I started on fanfic.net.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Birth of a Hunter

Chapter 1 – The Birth of a Hunter

 

"Guys, where's the safe house?" A voice, male, called out with an accent, making it obvious that the group was still stuck in the lower south. "Ellis, I saw the sign a while ago, but I haven't seen the damn place yet." Nick glowered at Ellis from the front of the group. "You would have known that if you'd been paying attention." He seethed, obviously pissed off. "Nick, calm down." Rochelle said, Coach backing her up. "Just cause I'm slow don't mean I'm stupid." Ellis retorted, frowning. He slowed down and stayed in the back. That Nick, always pickin on him. He had thought he had heard a witch, so he was trying to pick out how far she was. He wasn't dumb, he knew that…

Ellis shook the thoughts off and trotted off after the group. "Hey, there's a hotel ahead of us!" He pointed out triumphantly. "But we are gonna have to go through it. The roads blocked ahead." Coach said, deflating Ellis' good mood. "I think we can get through, with some climbing. It won't be too hard." Rochelle offered, patting Ellis' back. He nodded and straightened up again, following as the group approached the run down motel. "We gotta find the steps to the second floor." Nick said, frowning. "Split up but don't go too far. Call out softly if you find the stairs." He said, turning and going one way. The other three nodded and headed in different directions.

Ellis passed by a pool, making a face at the leaves and water (he hoped) that filled it. "What I would give for a swim." He cooed to himself, before shaking his head and going back to his search. Most of the rooms he passed were empty or had one or two commons, so it wasn't that bad. Soon, he came upon a hallway and, sitting at the end, the stairs. "I found it!" He said to himself, doing a dance. He ran back out, and alerted the others loudly, earning himself a glare from the limping Nick. "Shut up!" He muttered to Ellis, pushing him out of the way. Ellis was about to say something when Rochelle passed by him. "He just got attacked by a hunter is all. Don't mind him sweetie." She reassured Ellis, smiling. Ellis nodded and looked at the stairs, watching Nick start up them before realizing what he was gonna say. "Stop! Wait! Don't go!" He said, stumbling his way over to them.

He had remembered earlier that he had heard a witch and had tried to find it, finding her by finding the stairs (or vice versus, he wasn't sure). Nick stopped, foot on the steps. "What now dumb bell?" He asked, scowling. "There's a witch up there! Can't ya hear her?" Ellis said softly, remembering to be quiet. The rest of the group shut up and, sure enough, they could hear her soft sobs. "Crap. She must be sittin right at the top of the stairs. Dammit!" Nick said, biting his lip slightly before he stopped his bad habit. "How are we gonna get around her?" He asked the others. Coach offered up just throwing a pipe bomb up there, but Nick ruled that out. Rochelle offered up a boomer bomb, but Nick and Coach didn't particularly want to try that. Ellis stayed quiet, Nick noticing and becoming suspicious. "Oi, dumbass, why are you so quiet?" Nick snapped at Ellis, startling the other man. "Oh. I think I have an idea." He said, grinning slightly. Nick facepalmed. "And what do you suppose we do, grow wings and fly?" Nick snapped. Today was not his day, and he felt that it was only going to get worse. He didn't need Ellis to be the one to ruin it.

Ellis grinned slightly. "Well, she aint sittin on the railin…" He pointed out, much to Nick's horror. "No. No. No. I ain't doin it. No. No. Jus-No. Do not expect me to do that. I will be caught dead trying that." He said, shaking his head vigorously. Ellis looked confused as Coach and Rochelle sighed. "Just do it Nick. How else ya gonna get to the safe house?" Rochelle said, wiping sweat off of her forehead. She was nervous standing this close to a witch. If they didn't hurry, they would startle her. "…Fine." Nick said, scowling. "Let's get this over with." He said. "But I go last!" He added, much to Ellis' amusement. "Ok, suit yerself." Ellis said, grinning. Nick flipped Ellis' back off as he climbed the stairs. Getting to the second floor, he gulped, suddenly nervous. There sat the witch, sobbing into her hands. Good thing she wasn't wandering. He climbed onto the railing, which was just big enough for his hand, let alone his foot. Not to mention slippery.

After some stumbling, he made it across, and onto the other side of the witch. He gave the others the thumbs up and quietly tiptoed over to the nearest room, to wait for the others. Rochelle came next, squeaking slightly when she almost fell towards the witch. Coach somehow made it with out mishap, though the witch seemed to be getting even angrier. Nick cursed soundly as he strapped on his gun, so as to leave his hands empty. He could do it, he knew he could. He had taken gymnastics as a kid, as much as he hated to admit it. He climbed onto the railing slowly, and started his way up the sort of steep incline to the second story. 'I can do this,' was Nick's mantra for the entire time. It seemed to be going well, until, at the last moment, when he was about to jump to safety, his already injured leg decided to come out from under him, causing him to loose his balance, and thus, fall towards the sobbing mass that was known as the Witch. "Shit!"

A thousand curse words, and a few clips of ammo later saw Nick limping even more, having to have Ellis, of all people, help him walk. "Dammit. I knew this would happen." He muttered, scowling. "Just knew it." Ellis shook his head and shut himself up, though he looked proud. "Stop looking so damn proud, dumbass." Nick muttered, taking his frustrations out on the man. "Its all your damn fault I'm so damn injured. Dammit." Ellis shook his head again, concentrating on moving through the motel. "Nick, leave him alone. He didn't cause you to fall onto the witch. For all we know, you did it intentionally." Rochelle snapped at Nick, having had enough of his ranting. Nick's mouth flopped open and closed, before Ellis piped up. "Ya better keep that closed. Dunno if ya want an infected fly getting in there." He said, almost cheerfully. Nick glowered at him, mouth snapping shut.

Coach just shook his head from the front of the group. The two men never seemed to get along with each other, even with Ellis trying his best to be friendly.

A few minutes later, they made there way down the steps and onto the street behind the barricade. "Finally!" Ellis said, doing a little dance. Nick continued to glower at him, staying quiet. He had pulled himself away from Ellis, and leaned against a car, still pissed of, before he realized something "Wait, I think I hear a-" Was all Nick could get out before a horde attacked, sending a hunter Nick's way, and the rest the rest of the groups way. Try as he might, he couldn't shoot the jumping sucker, and cursed. "Somebody help me! Can't shoot the damn thing." He called out, still trying. He'd had to rely on his pistols, seeing as his main gun needed more strength than he had at the moment.

There's was a click suddenly, startling Nick to the point of almost pissing his pants. "Fuck!" He said, resorting to just throwing the pistols at the hunter, who dodged simply. "I don't wanna die young!" He screamed, throwing his hands up as the hunter lunged at him. He shut his eyes tight, waiting for the searing pain of the hunter clawing through his intestines and skin and what not. But he didn't feel it. "The hell?" He muttered, letting his arms down. He blinked, startled by what he saw.

Ellis had somehow sprinted his way, and intercepted the hunter's jaws, uttering not a sound as the hunter latched onto him, ripping out everything. In the blur before the hunter was shot, he could see the hunter bend down to do something at about neck level, sitting back up again. But nothing registered in Nick's mind except the blood. Rochelle finally caught up to the two, and got rid of the hunter, Coach finishing off the last of the infected attacking them. "Shit. He looks bad. Do you think he's still breathing?" Rochelle asked, eyes slightly wide. Ellis looked more than bad. He looked almost ugly. Disgusting. His throat had almost been ripped open, leaving deep gashes on his throat and his chest. It looked like there could have been bite marks on his neck, but he couldn't tell. Nick finally really registered the blood, and started throwing up to the side. Coach went over to him as Rochelle searched for a pulse. There wasn't one.

"Come on, you guys. We gotta get going." She said, voice hardening up slightly. "He would have wanted us to continue." The others nodded. Without a backwards look, the group walked off down the road, leaving the body. No one could really look at it, for fear of crying. They knew it could have been any one of them.

Unbeknownst to them, once out of sight, the once thought to be dead body spasmed, crying out. Searing pain shot through Ellis, almost shocking him back to life. Well, an undead life. "AHHHH!" The pain continued, it became all Ellis could think about, all he remembered, all he knew, before it disappeared. Spasming again, he sat up shakily. 'W-Who am I?' He thought to himself, obviously confused, and scared and lost. He looked at his hand, fascination taking precedence over his fear. Claws. He had claws. He knew, as if by instinct, that he wasn't human anymore. That he needed to do certain things, act a certain way. But he wasn't consciously aware of all of that information. All he was aware of right then was a single name. "Nick." He knew it meant something to himself, but he couldn't remember what, so he gave up trying to remember, and started referring to himself as that.

"Nick" stood up and appraised his current situation. He eyed the hunter in front of himself, feeling sorry for his brethren. He didn't hesitate, though, to take the hoodie from the hunter and don it, finding that it fit almost perfectly.

Now, to go search out those tasty morsels he could smell...


	2. Never knew sulking could lead to a witch...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nick grieves and then receives a shock when a Hunter saves him instead of killing him.

Nick felt sorry for Ellis, despite his obvious dislike of the man. True, Ellis was no longer with their party and was dead, but Nick still felt bad. He'd snapped at Ellis when he was pissed off, even though he hadn't done anything except help him. And then he'd died. Forcing back tears that threatened to fall despite his anger, Nick concentrated on burning the room in front of him. It was burning on purpose, having been set by Nick. There had been infected inside, so he'd offered to burn then. Rochelle and Coach, not wanting to taste any more of Nick's anger, agreed and left him to his work.

He hadn't counted on a Witch being there, though, and she came screaming and wailing at him. He braced himself for a stab-y impact, but was startled when there was a "wry" and she let out a confused cry. Opening an eye, he took a step back. The Witch, having been burned alive, had been knocked down by an odd-looking, and awkward looking, hunter, who was hurriedly patting small fires off of his hoodie while muttering, too quiet for nick to hear. Unable to see the Hunter's face, he started inching back, searching for a form of exit. Damn those two for leaving him alone.

 

Getting a good distance away, Nick turned around and briskly started walking away. A shuffle step behind him caused him to stop and stiffen, which led to a muttered curse and him turning around, shot gun flamethrower ready to be fired, aiming at whatever was behind him. The hunter, that had, for some reason, saved him was standing up straight and seemed to have been following him, though now his hands were raised in a gesture of peace. Seeing the face almost clearly now, Nick sputtered and almost dropped his flamethrower. "Ellis?!?"

It was then that the "Damned Two" decided to show up, weapons aimed at the Hunter. A snarled ripped through him, the delicate concentration he had gathered broken. He glowered at Coach and Rochelle before wrying and pouncing at Nick. Nick himself saw this and yelped, the back of his suit caught up in the hunter's grasp. He struggled desperately to get out, but had little luck. He was dragged up a builidng and down a set of stairs before being thrown violently against a wall. 

He panted and took a moment to regain himself before standing up and attempting to view his surroundings. As far as he could tell, he was in a locked room, an almost non-existant sob closer than he would have liked. He was glad that she hadn't noticed him yet, but he knew that she would sooner rather than later. Bumping into several things, including tables with sharp edges, chairs, and what he guessed to be a rolling table, or something to that. He cursed when his leg spasmed in pain, causing him to lean agains the nearest table so that he can get off of his right leg. "The hell?" He muttered, patting his leg to find it wet. He cursed again, much to his horror, as the witchs sobs and moans turned alerted.

Outside, Coach and Rochelle had heard the witch and, following her, found where Nick was. They found him mostly unharmed, and dragged him away. "Nick? C'mon Nick, stay with us." Coach said, checking the silent man over once they had stopped. Rochelle handed him some bandages at his request, Coach wrapping up the minor injury. Sharing a look, both Rochelle and Coach looked worried. Even while mourning Ellis' death, Nick had never fallen silent. Never. Coach sighed and shook his head. "Let's continue, Ro." Coach slapped Nick's cheek slightly, the conman blinking and looking up at him. Coach resolutely handed him his flamethrower shotgun, the conman gripping it and nodding. At least he still seemed to get simple commands. No words were exchanged as they found their way to a Carnival, carefully picking their way around the clogged up cars. "Well, hell." Rochelle muttered, hearing the squeaking that would only come from a clown already. Nick nodded to himself and gave them a cold look, telling them silently not to follow. He walked up to the carnival entrance, pausing to look around cautiously before continuing. Rochelle and Coach shared another look. "What's up with him?" Rochelle wondered aloud, sighing. Coach sat down, checking his arm, which had gotten banged up. "Somethin' is off, is all I can tell, Ro.' He's too quiet." Coach said, sighing. Rochelle nodded her agreement, opening her mouth to say something before she heard gunfire coming from where they had come from. 

Blinking, Rochelle stood up quickly. "Survivors." Coach nodded, and stayed where he was. "Go help 'em. I'll make sure Nick don't go away." He said, Rochelle running off as soon as he had finished talking. Coach watched her run off, the young woman aiming and firing with precision. Smiling, he turned his attention back to Nick, who'd wandered farther into the carnival. For some reason, no infected seemed to be bothering him...Coach didn't think much on it, instead standing up to follow the conman, preferably before he moved out of sight and got jumped by a jockey. He quickly trotted after the conman, cursing his luck when he couldn't find him. "Where in the hell?" Coach groaned as he heard a witch nearby. Or, well, it sounded like a witch. It was certainly crying, but he didn't want to chance a meeting, so he back-tracked and met up with Rochelle and the other group of survivors. 

The other group, while odd, looked like a small family, almost. There was an older gentleman who looked like a old war veteran who would die over not smoking, judging by the cigarette hanging out of one corner. There were two other men, one a young black man who looked a bit skittish and what could only be described as a biker, judging by the vest he wore. The other person out of their group of four was a young woman wearing a red sweater and holding onto her sniper rifle like it was her baby. A baby she knew how to use well. 

Coach chuckled. "Welcome." He said, introducing himself and Rochelle. "We got another guy, but he's clearin a path for us." He said, sighing. The woman made a curious noise, eyebrow raising. "Isn't that dangerous? Something could attack him." She pointed out, after introducing herself as Zoey. "True, but seein as I ain't heard a horde yet, I think he's fine." Coach said, nodding. Zoey shrugged and dropped the matter. "This is Louis, Francis, and Bill." She said, pointing to each man whens he said their name. "We came from up north hopin to find some safe haven." Bill explained, sighing. Rochelle shifted as she watched the carnival, the group looking at her. "It's too quiet. Somethin might have happened. I say we go in there." She said, with determination. Coach consented, turning to look at the others. "What about you four? Wanna come along?" 

The four turned inwards, quietly discussing their options. "They do seem to know where they are going." Zoey pointed out, Francis crossing his arms. "Nu-uh. We go with them, I'm sure we'll only attract more of a horde. And then some." Louis nodded his agreement. "I heard they have different types of infected down here. Something called a Shooter, a screamer, and a walking witch, among others." He mumbled, fidgeting. Francis scowled, surprised he was being agreed with. "But look at the other side. If we don't go with them, we might be in trouble. They know what's down here, we don't." Zoey argued. Bill, who had been quiet up till now, sighed. "We go with them. If you don't like it, find another way. Sides, the carnival is the only exit. Remember the chopper we saw?" He pointed out with an almost smug smile. Zoey grinned as Louis seemed to reconsider. "Oh fine! We'll go!" Francis said, giving up with a grumble. 

Coach chuckled, hearing the last sentence. "Then let's go. 'Fore our friend gets too ahead of us." He said, shrugging a shoulder at the carnival. The group nodded and started walking, Coach taking the lead. Rochelle walked with Zoey, the two women delegated to the middle by the men. Bill caught up with Coach and walked with him, while Francis and Louis took up the rear. The women rolled their eyes and, keeping watch from where they were chatted quietly. Coach tensed up as he heard the witch again, the rest of the group shutting up. "The hell? That don't sound like a normal witch." Bill said, frowning. Coach nodded in agreement, frowning as well. "I noticed. Tha's why I stopped and went back to you guys." Coach said, sighing. Quietly, the group inched forward, all flashlights turned off. In the distance, a hunter could be heard, though it was far off enough to not be of any harm just yet. 

Ignoring the hunter, Bill tried to place where the Witch was. And even if it was the witch. "It sounds like the witch but it sounds...lower. Deeper." He said, confused. Swiftly, they turned a corner and froze. Back to them almost right there, sat a witch, but not just any witch. Rochelle took a sharp breath in, muttering something or other. "Nick?" Coach attempted, praying to god it wasn't the conman. But, of course, luck wasn't on his side as the witch's usual sobs turned alerted and 'she' wailed, standing up. Turning around, the sobbing mess revealed itself to be the conman, his flamethrower shotgun on the ground next to him. Wailing at the group, he ran off, disappearing amongst the horde running at them.

"Crap!" Bill shouted, shooting into the horde. The group was left no time to wonder over the conman turned special infected, as the horde revealed itself to have a tank behind it, and a smoker and hunter inside it. But Coach was still left wondering as to when Nick had been changed into an infected....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew! XD Not like I had to type anything, really. I just transferred this over from Deviant Art. Its the second chapter. :D Hope ya'll like it.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Italicized is infected speak, just so you know and in case I don’t make distinctions. And also, I’ll spell this out now while I have the chance, this is not a Yaoi fan fiction, okay? Nick cares for Ellis as a brother, not a love relation.

Nick quickly lost track of time as he sat, though he didn’t particularly care. He didn’t know why he cared so much about overalls, why it hurt to know he couldn’t help the hick. He curled in on himself some more, moaning quietly. He was suddenly aware of movement, a sort of hop and shuffle as a body moved closer and familiar warmth settled against his injured side, causing him to wince. “Sorry!” A voice squeaked girlishly. Nick shuffled, curling around the tiny body next to him and pulling it onto his lap. _“It’s okay,”_ He said around the hair almost stuffed into his mouth, _“Just gotta remember I hurt that side.”_ He was still a bit amazed that he was talking, though he knew it wasn’t in English. The body in his arms shuffled and turned around, bright eyes looking up at him. _“You gonna be alright? I smell blood…”_ The little girl whimpered slightly, eliciting a sigh from Nick. _“Bria, I told you I’d be fine. I just gotta heal.”_ He explained, for what seemed to be the umpteenth time. Bria nodded, settling against him again.

Nick still didn’t know why he’d saved the little face hugger who called herself Bria, though he suspected it was because she reminded him of overalls. She often babbled in a mixture of infected and English about her family and friends, and he let her. She was his lifeline, for now, so he more or less let her off with a lot. The open wound in his side felt more like a stab wound with the knife in it then the bullet wound that it was, making the male witch hiss and remember the cruelty showed to him by survivors. “Did you bring the food?” He asked instead, changing the subject quickly. “Yep!” Bria answered, slithering out of his arms and to a bag sitting by the open door.

It was then that Nick saw it, it being a pair of eyes staring at him from some bushes. _“Whose there?”_ He called out in infected loudly, watching the hooded figure creep closer. He knew it was a hunter, but he also knew it looked familiar, racking his brain for who it could be. The hunter stopped in the door way, close enough that Bria saw it- him- now. The bill of a blue hat stuck out from under the hood, a shot gun sticking out like a sore thumb from its position on the hunter’s back. Nick didn’t know what to say as he stared at the overall clad hunter, a sort of strangled noise coming out instead of words. The hunter bark-laughed quietly, amused as he pushed back the hood. (Just the hood.) _“Hi Nick.”_ The hunter finally got out, coughing heavily. Nick was able to tell that Ellis had been through a lot, his eyes looking older than they’d looked before. Nick finally regained use of his body, standing up quickly. “Get in Overalls.” He managed to say in English, scowling slightly but none the less happy. Ellis obliged, skittering in quickly as Bria shut the door behind him. He eyed Bria and the door then turned around to talk to Nick, instead meeting with a fist. _“Ow!”_ He whimpered, rubbing his jaw with a surprised look on his face. _“That was for leaving us.”_ Nick grumbled in infected, shaking his hand. _“But I would have just hurt ya’ll if I’d stayed.”_ He whined, looking like a kicked puppy and generating a need for Nick to hug the man. Nick sighed and, squashing the need, patted his shoulder. (Ellis’ shoulder of course.) _“Don’t go leaving again, ya hear?”_ He said, moving to curl up in a corner. Bria looked between the two, finally speaking. “My name’s Bria~!” She said, skipping over to the now startled hunter and clinging to his back. Ellis squeaked, skittering around in an attempt to dislodge her from his back. Nick just groaned from his corner and shook his head.

Ellis finally settled down, Bria still clinging to his back. _“So, Nick, where are the others?”_ He asked, managing to get Bria off of his back. “ _Gone. They got picked up by helicopter along with some other survivors a few weeks back.”_ The witch responded, prying open a still-good can of peaches with a happy noise. _“Aw! I was hoping they’d be with ya, then I’d be able to tell them I was fine.”_ The hunter pouted, crossing his arms. Nick snorted, frowning when he heard gunshots and screams. Bria perked up as Nick went back to his peaches, blinking when the juice, and can, shook. _“Dammit. I was hoping we’d have some peace and quiet.”_ Nick grumbled around a mouthful of peaches, tossing the empty can into a corner. Ellis tilted his head in confusion, watching as the two infected shuffled around. Bria saw the confusion and saw fit to explain.

 _“When Nick found me, not too long ago, a tank was trying to first kill me, then rape me, then kill me again.”_ She said in infected, switching over to English. “Nick decided to save me so he pestered the tank into dropping me. The bugger’s hated him ever since.” Bria giggled, snickering. Nick scowled at the smaller infected, grimacing. _“With my story told then, we should get out of here. It won’t be long before the tank realizes I’m here and decides to try for revenge again. And this place won’t stand for much longer.”_ The witch explained, stuffing a small bag with cans and food carefully. _“Where will we go then?”_ Ellis asked, moving to help. _“I’m not sure. Bria mentioned a while ago that there are a few camps safe for the more human infected. Apparently it’s a day’s drive south to the check point, and then a few hours into the forest is the camp itself.”_ Nick explained, sighing when Bria skipped over to them. “All packed~!” She said cheerfully, grinning. Ellis returned her grin as Nick shouldered the food bag onto his uninjured side. _“Let’s get going. We gotta make our way around Big John just to get to the exit.”_ Nick said, using his and Bria’s nickname for the tank.

Ellis took point, scaling the near-by buildings to get a better view. Bria followed behind Nick, who stumbled his way around the debris from the tank, the eerie silence creeping him out. _“Something’s wrong.”_ Nick called out to Ellis, frowning. Said infected was already crawling down the side of a near-by building, looking a bit paranoid. _“You’re tellin me. Try sitting up there on a buildin.”_ He said, shivering slightly once he’d gotten to Nick and Bria. “It’s like right after a bomb went off.” Bria said quietly, kind of awed as she shuffled closer to Nick. Ellis trudged along in front, gripping his shotgun. The nervous group shuffled along, Nick nearly imitating a cat when a bush shook slightly and squeaked/squealed.

 _“What the…?”_ Nick questioned, Ellis inching forward and sniffing the bush, which shook again, though this time it had started to cry. Ellis blinked in surprise. _“That’s an infected baby in that bush.”_ He said, his eyes wide in surprise. Nick shook his head, a bit shocked. _“Are you sure?”_ Ellis nodded, causing Nick to shake his head again. All the infected quickly covered their ears as the cry turned into a full on unhappy baby wail. Nick dove for the busy and yelped when a tongue wrapped around his neck, the baby’s wail stopping as it tried to choke the “intruder” to death. Nick surfaced from the bush with the baby in tow, one hand trying to pry the tongue away from his neck, to no avail. Ellis came to the rescue, snatching the baby away from the witch, much to the tiny smoker’s surprise. She let go of the “intruder,” cooing to the figure holding her now.

Nick heaved a sigh of relief at being able to breathe, almost glaring at the baby. _“Thing has a damn strong grip with its tongue. More than likely was born as an infected instead of being changed into one.”_ He said, coughing and rubbing his neck. Ellis nodded his agreement, cooing to the baby. _“We should get out of here. It’s too quiet.”_ Nick said, sighing softly. Ellis nodded, grinning slightly as he cradled the baby in one arm. Nick tried not to look amused as Bria snuggled against his uninjured sighed. Ellis retook point, though he stuck to the ground and the immediate area, having fun with the baby smoker. All was quiet, the group not even spotting a common infected. _“Where the hell is everyone?”_ Ellis asked quietly, frowning slightly as he slowed down to stay with Nick and Bria. _“I’m sure they are around somewhere. Something probably has them spooked…”_ Nick suggested, shrugging. Quite honestly, he wasn’t sure. He’d never seen it this quiet after the infection hit everywhere. It kind of reminded him of the trip he took to some jungle or other. A rather large animal had barreled past his group, and they were able to just barely move out of the way, thanks to the animals. As the large beast had approached, the other animals had gone completely silent, knowing what was coming.

Nick’s paranoia returned full force, stopping suddenly. _“We should get to high ground.”_ He said suddenly, looking for a tall building with an open roof. _“Preferably on a roof so we can see what’s coming.”_ He explained somewhat, jogging over to an almost perfect building. He pulled Bria along, Ellis following closely. _“Nick, what’s wrong? What do you mean, so we can see what’s coming?”_ He asked, confused. Nick sighed and fully explained as they went up the steps. _“You ever been someplace when there’s a big animal heading your way? That eerie quiet that announces its presence as the other animals run and hide?”_ Ellis nodded, thinking back to a time when he was more innocent. _“Yeah. Does that mean somethin’s comin?”_ He asked, frowning slightly. “Yes it does. Something that’s scared even a tank away from here.” He said in English, to cement the danger. The group held on tightly as the ground trembled heavily, reminding Nick of an earthquake. Once the shaking stopped, Nick charged up the steps, the other two infected hot on his heels.

What he saw startled him. To scare a tank was something that seemed beyond all possible thought, but now he knew his deductions were true. Whatever it was, it was big enough to destroy the street as it passed, and to shake the ground more than a tank ever could. But it was long gone, leaving little to the imagination. Ellis whistled as he saw the destruction. _“Worse than a tank on a bad day.”_ He whispered, awed and shocked. “What can make so much destruction?” Bria asked, whining quietly. “ _I-I don’t know…”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> >.>; That was kinda annoying, but its finished. I still got one more chapter to transfer over.


	4. Things get complicated

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nick, Ellis, Bria, and the Baby Smoker meet another problem, a Tank-like man with a resolve to get back at Nick for something he did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just wanted to warn you that instead of calling Nick a male witch, I'm going to now be referring to him as a 'Warlock.' A friend of mine said she'd heard it around before, so I decided to adopt it. Allonsy!

Sometime later, Nick was vaguely aware that they'd moved off of the rooftop and away from the sight of destruction. It was still quiet, though, so he could assume that they were still in the area of whatever had attacked. The next thing Nick saw was the pile of (tempting) canned peaches. He pushed back the urge to jump the pile and struggled to sit up, a gasp forcing him to sit back.

Of course, his gasp was loud enough, apparently, to bring the capped hunter back inside, donning a worried expression. "Ya'll alright Nick?" He asked, shuffling slightly as he watched the warlock. "My side hurts like a son of a bitch but otherwise I'm fine." He grumbled, snatching up a can of peaches and prying it open in one swift movement. "I-I can bandage it up for ya." Ellis offered, shuffling some more. "Oi, 1, stop shuffling Overalls, you're being noisy. 2, you are horrible at bandaging anything." Nick replied, downing the can of peaches as a drinker would a strong drink. Ellis scratched his cheek, sighing. He knew Nick was right, he just hated admitting it. "How about-" "Not Bria either. She's just as worse as you." Ellis' eyebrows shot up in surprise. He opened his mouth to talk again but Nick cut him off quickly. "I'll be fine." He said, sighing. "Just bring me more peaches." He grimace-smiled, not comforting the hunter at all.

Ellis gave up and walked back out onto the balcony, where Bria was balancing the almost-toddler on her hip. "Wow! She grew some more." Ellis said, taking the child smoker at her command [aka outstretched arms with a sort of pleading look]. "Yeah. It's hard to ignore it when you're carrying her." Bria agreed, stretching her arms out as the child smoker nuzzled her head into Ellis' neck with a happy pur. Ellis looked amused, nearly grinning. He'd always loved kids, and he always wanted to have one of his own. "So, what are we going to name her?" Bria asked with curiosity. Ellis shrugged, looking thoughtful. "I was thinkin Kaylee…" Bria giggled, causing the hunter to blush slightly and whine. "What?" Bria replied, "You sound like a doting papa." She grinned at the embarrassed whine. He was about to retort when Nick called for him. Taking Kaylee with him, he practically ran inside and froze.

Nick grimaced as a soldier poked his wound, grinning at the resulting hiss. "This one's hurt, sir." The soldier said, poking again for good measure. Nick glared at the soldier, deepening it at the man that walked into the room with a smirk."Ah, so we meet again." He said, walking closer to Nick. The man was young-looking, his brown hair swept back into a ponytail. His face was scarred, claw marks moving from the left side of his forehead to his chin, his two-toned eyes having just escaped injury. Nick glared into the green/blue eyes, very nearly growling. He attempted to tell Bria, in infected, to not come in but was too late. A soldier stumped back in, prying Bria off of his face and throwing her at Ellis, who caught her. The man laughed, ducking away from the   
warlock and his claws. "Ah-ah!" He said, waggling a finger. "You hurt me, I hurt your family." Nick sat back, Unhappy.  
He didn't like it but he stayed quiet, glaring at the scarred man. "Luke, you don't have to do this." Nick said, wincing as the soldiers searched his companions, ultimately kicking Bria for biting one of them. "But of course I do." The man, Luke, said pleasantly. "If I don't you won't hand over that child of yours." He said, motioning to Kaylee. Nick bristled, hissing. "Oh ho! Is someone mad?" Luke said, snickering. Turning to the soldiers, he said, "Take them away. I'll deal with the warlock." He turned back to Nick as the soldiers pulled the group out of the building and onto the street. 

Bria bristled, sniffing the air gently. "El. Ellis. Something's coming." She whispered to the hunter, who was just as jittery as her. "I know. Should we run?" He asked, looking around nervously. The soldiers were oblivious to the low rumble coming closer to them, though they could tell the infected were nervous. "What's wrong, huh? Scared of us?" One of the soldiers taunted, laughing obnoxiously. Ellis ignored him, grabbing Bria as Kaylee used her tongue to pull them out of the area. The rumbling was getting louder, coming to the attention of the soldiers though it was past too late now. Kaylee curled up against Ellis' side, whimpering as a gigantic round thing pinballed its way towards them. Ellis very nearly fell over as it passed them with a blast of wind, Nick stumbling up the stairs and holding a rather limp arm at the same time. "What the hell was that?" He nearly squeaked, mostly from the pain of a dislocated shoulder. Ellis shook his head, beyond confused. "I-I dunno, Nick." He whimpered, rubbing Kaylee's back. Bria dusted off her clothes, making a noise. "Whatever it was, it was damn big." She said, her voice shaky. Nick opened his mouth to say something but was cut off by a growl similar to that of a Tanks. Nick scrambled over to the group, bustling them off of the roof. The door to the roof busted open and Luke charged through, very obviously angry as a new scar dripped blood. He rawred and tore a piece of the roof off, sending it flying. "I'll find you!" He called after Nick, his voice amplified by the infection. "I'll find you and kill you, you bastard!" Nick was glad that his group was able to move quickly, pulling them into an alley way just as the thing from before rolled by. "We gotta get out of here." He said, wincing. "No. First we gotta pop your arm back into place." Bria said firmly.

Nick sighed and consented, clenching Ellis' sweater between his teeth so that he wouldn't bite his tongue off. Ellis gave him a sympathetic look before grabbing Nick's limp arm and shoving it back into place. The scream that came from Nick's throat scared them all, but thankfully didn't last long. "You could double as a screamer." Bria said, cleaning out her ears. Nick's eyebrow rose as he rubbed his shoulder. "A what?" He asked, his voice a little horse. "Exactly as their names imply. They are worse than clowns." Bria explained, shivering. Nick nodded, sighing. "Well, let's go, before Luke catches up to me." They nodded their agreement and the group headed off in a general west direction.

**Author's Note:**

> Whew! First story posted to AO3. Well, I'd like to know what you all think of this.


End file.
